Beautiful Boy

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Beautiful Boy

R

2011

1h 40m

Drama

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

71%

Tomatometer

66 Reviews

56%

Popcornmeter

5,000+ Ratings

Stuck in an unhappy but comfortable marriage, businessman Bill (Michael Sheen) and his wife, Kate (Maria Bello), are shocked when they learn that their son, Sammy (Kyle Gallner), has gone on a deadly shooting spree on his college campus before committing suicide. Struggling to avoid the media, the couple flees to the house of Kate's brother, Eric (Alan Tudyk). While the two try to remember what they might have done to drive Sammy to his desperate act, their mutual resentment builds.

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Critics Consensus

Saved by a pair of outstanding performances, Beautiful Boy is a testament to parental love and understating in the face of ultimate sorrow.

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Rick Groen

Globe and Mail

Jun 17, 2011

2/4

In Beautiful Boy, the themes are vast but the picture is small, and the ensuing emptiness is what the characters are meant to feel -- not us.

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Ann Hornaday

Washington Post

Jun 17, 2011

1.5/4

An excruciating drama about a couple caught in the aftermath of a pivotal moment involving their college-age son.

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Mick LaSalle

San Francisco Chronicle

Jun 16, 2011

2/4

At a certain point lofty objectivity is just a refusal to engage, and no raw camera work can disguise it.

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Keith Garlington

Keith & the Movies

Aug 19, 2022

3.5/5

Even with its flaws “Beautiful Boy” can be a powerful film that handles some tricky and weighty subject matter with care and compassion.

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Amelia Harvey

Frame Rated

Jul 24, 2019

2/5

There are moments that are touching, but Beautiful Boy fails to dig deep into emotional depths. It skates the surface and refuses to evolve further than showing us how Nic's a smart kid on a bad path, David's a good dad trying his best...

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Abbie Bernstein

Assignment X

Feb 14, 2019

B

Beautiful Boy is imperfect, but what works about it is very potent indeed.

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Robert P

@Superbad Sep 11, 2026

Beautiful Boy = a *3* star Movie

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Charles P

@RT36323923 Jan 7, 2026

Careens from one type of film to another scene by scene so hard it's as though every single actor had a different director - some like Tudyk in a horrific Kubrickian comedy of the darkest sort, and others like lead Bello wallowing in forced tears and scenery chewing as though trying for a 3-picture deal with Lifetime Movies. Co-lead Michael Sheen, incredibly, is almost invisible here, but it's hardly his fault - Christopher Walken on a cappuccino bender at age 37 couldn't have made this milquetoast wet blanket of a man interesting, let alone memorable. There was a good idea in here somewhere, but what happened to it is anybody's guess.

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Wendel L

@BRZRKR Sep 7, 2025

Direção: Ok Atuação: Bom Roteiro: Ok Caracterização: Ok Soundtrack: Ok

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Faiz D

@RT95588871 May 13, 2025

It could have been great, but something was missing.

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Mitch K

@RT55564060 May 4, 2025

Was effective at casting emotional trauma and relationship awkwardness. One glaring omission was no mention of how or where he got the fire arms. Not a word. Almost like the NRA was a sponsor.

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Shannon F

@Shannond Aug 16, 2024

Heartbreaking. Great cast.

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Shawn Ku

Director

Michael Sheen

Bill Carroll

Maria Bello

Kate Carroll

Alan Tudyk

Eric

Moon Bloodgood

Trish

Kyle Gallner

Sam

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Synopsis

Stuck in an unhappy but comfortable marriage, businessman Bill (Michael Sheen) and his wife, Kate (Maria Bello), are shocked when they learn that their son, Sammy (Kyle Gallner), has gone on a deadly shooting spree on his college campus before committing suicide. Struggling to avoid the media, the couple flees to the house of Kate's brother, Eric (Alan Tudyk). While the two try to remember what they might have done to drive Sammy to his desperate act, their mutual resentment builds.

Director: Shawn Ku
Producer: Lee Clay, Eric Gozlan
Screenwriter: Shawn Ku, Michael Armbruster
Distributor: Anchor Bay
Production Co: Goldrush Entertainment
Rating: R (Language|A Scene of Sexuality)
Genre: Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Jun 3, 2011, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Mar 16, 2017
Box Office (Gross USA): $77.2K
Runtime: 1h 40m

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